Follow Us

University Launches Important Program Dealing With Race and Poverty in Schools

In the United States, there is a clear connection between race and poverty in communities everywhere. Many factors contribute to the causation of this highly unfortunate, yet engineered connection of dysfunction.

Adversities like institutionalized racism, political abandonment, as well as the destruction of primary and secondary education systems are some of the key factors, which help draw every link between poverty and the racially-motivated displacement of minority members of America’s culture.

The war against poverty entails dissecting the cultural elements, which are concentrated in the areas most affected by a lack of basic resources. Fortunately, there are institutions out there that are willing to fight in this war by raising awareness and educating people about the real work that must be done to make difference.

According to the Reading Eagle newspaper, Pennsylvania’s Kutztown University (KU) has developed a program called “Understanding Race and Poverty in Schools.” This program is one of many to come in a public speaking series on campus, which will feature a number of notable scholars sharing their message about winning the war on poverty.

These events are free of charge and will be held on the KU campus in room 200 of the Academic Forum. Dr. H. Richard Milner IV (pictured) is the leading keynote speaker who will be facilitating these events. Dr. Milner’s work on the issues of race, poverty, and poor education systems includes co-editing the informative and widely read “Handbook In Urban Education.”

Dr. Milner spoke at an event of this kind in spring 2016 at SUNY Buffalo State, which was part of the Woods-Beals Endowment in Urban Education Speaker Series.

“One thing that you have to be mindful of is that racism is operating through power structures….what makes this difficult for teachers to understand, adapt to, or even admit is that racism can be operating, and often is operating on a level even if it is not a part of our intentions,” Dr. Milner said.

You can watch a video recording of one of Dr. Milner’s speeches by clicking here.